The Necessity of Light

By Cyndi

Where would we be without light? Why do we need it? It is light that allows us to see things around us, that keeps us from bumping into things when we’re walking. It is light that helps us to see and not just feel and touch objects. When there is no light, there is darkness.

Light dispels darkness. Things are exposed when light is present. When you were a kid, did you ever think you saw something in your room that wasn’t really there and it made you afraid? Whenever I did, my dad would come into my room, flip the light on and confirm to me that what I thought was there, in reality, wasn’t. The light revealed the truth to me. It dispelled my fear. Sometimes we don’t know what is true until light is shed upon it.

Light reveals, darkness hides. Do you ever think about how evil is portrayed in literature or movies? Usually it is characterized by nighttime, shadows, the color black, or darkness. Even certain people can be considered “shady”.  Light, on the other hand, tends to characterize hope or something new-a “dawn” of some sort.

Think about this-you can bring light to something, but you can’t bring darkness. Light can be contained, but darkness can’t because the minute you reveal it, it’s no longer dark. We can put light in a box, in a bulb, in a room, in something that can hold it. When you switch on a flashlight, the light comes “on”; when you switch it off, the light goes “off”. We don’t say the darkness goes away and then comes back, no, it’s the light that changes things. Darkness is the absence of light. You only get darkness by eliminating light. The natural state of the world is darkness. That’s why in Genesis, the first thing God created after the earth itself was light. (Gen. 1:3)  

Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”(John 8:12) Here in this verse, Jesus refers to Himself as light personified-a living, breathing example of what light is. I believe He did not come to condemn sinners and threaten evil doers, but to expose the darkness in their lives and reveal a better, brighter way to live. Even as it is hard for us to function physically in the dark, God doesn’t want us to live spiritually without light either. He is the light, the hope that can dispel the darkness in our lives, whether it is fear, anxiety, or desperation. It is His light that can change everything.